Medical billing best practices will enhance the efficiency and return on the process.
At The Fox Group, we've employed medical billing best practices to help a myriad of healthcare organizations take their billing and collections to new heights because we're very outcome-focused.
Medical practice billing may sometimes seem more like art than science - but it doesn't have to be. The Fox Group will show you that there aren't any deep dark secrets about managing the revenue cycle - the process from scheduling an appointment to sending a patient statement for a final balance due. All you need is to understand how to integrate medical billing best practices into your healthcare business. And that's where we can help to transition your healthcare organization to a profitable set of protocols that are integrated into your daily practice.
Medical billing best practices can be thought of in several categories:
- Appointment Scheduling and Reception, where the initial contact with the patient usually takes place. Here practices should be making sure they are capturing demographic and insurance information, verifying the information before the appointment, and collecting copayments when the patient arrives.
- Charges and Fee Schedules, where the formal billing process starts. Here practices should make sure they are keeping their fee schedule up to date as government programs and insurance companies change their reimbursement over time, and where timely entry of charges can begin to cut days off of the accounts receivable.
- Claims and Follow-up, where timely claims submission and follow-up are key. Here practices should make sure they are submitting claims daily, and following up as soon as payment time frames are exceeded.
- Payment Posting, where the timely posting of payments can increase cash flow. Practices should make maximum use of electronic systems such as electronic remittance advices and electronic posting of payments.
- Accounts receivable management, where management tools such as unpaid account work-lists and AR reports are key.
Independent Medical Billing Audits can uncover weaknesses
A medical billing audit, whether as part of an overall operational assessment or as an individual service, performed by an outside consultant such as The Fox Group, can reveal the strengths and weaknesses in the medical billing process - whether it is performed in-house or by an outside billing service.
To get an idea of the many items The Fox Group looks into when performing a medical billing audit:
download our checklist of medical billing best practices now
Review the checklist to see how your practice is doing, and then call the professionals at The Fox Group when you are ready to get an in-depth assessment of your billing department.